Two New Mexico men arrested in a murder-for-hire plot were planning to strangle and castrate pop star Justin Bieber and his bodyguard, according to KRQE-TV.

Mark Staake, 41, and his 23-year-old nephew Tanner Ruane were arrested late last month in Vermont. They were accused of plotting to kidnap and kill four people on behalf of Dana Martin, who is serving two life sentences for the 2000 rape and murder of a Vermont girl in 200. Staake met Martin in Las Cruces state prison.

Tuesday, KRQE, citing investigators, said the Canadian performer and his bodyguard were two of the targets.

Vermont police arrested Mark Staake, of Albuquerque, N.M., for probation violation Nov. 19 at a Canadian border crossing. He is accused of plotting to kill and castrate four people, including Justin Bieber.

A New Mexico police affidavit states Staake and Ruane allegedly planned to first travel from New Mexico to Vermont and kill two witnesses to Martin's crime, then hit Bieber.

The plot allegedly was planned for when Bieber performed sold-out concerts at Madison Square Garden in New York City on Nov. 27 and Nov. 28. Police said the 45-year-old Martin was obsessed with Bieber and has a tattoo of him on one of his legs.

Police said Martin directed the would-be hit men to strangle Bieber and the others with a paisley tie, Martin's "calling card," KRQE said. But he apparently changed his mind and ratted out Staake and Ruane before they could act.

Staake was arrested in Vermont on outstanding warrants, but police let Ruane go. Police recorded phone calls Ruane made to Martin from New York, telling him that he was "disappointed he couldn't carry out the murders," KRQE writes.

New York police arrested Ruane, who had pruning shears and what the CBS affiliate describes as "murder tools."

The police affidavit states there was a $2,500 bounty for each of Bieber's testicles, the Toronto Star says.

Be forced to listen to the same music over and over again... you'll want to murder the person who made it. It won't stop the torture, but at least you will have gotten revenge on the person that made what was being used to torture you.

Well if they planned to kill him then the castration would've been over doing it if they wanted to keep him from reproducing...

hmm how about.. murder to keep him from reproducing... castration and balls as proof that you are the one that did it.

remove ovaries... I think female castration is technically considered female circumcision in the middle eastern / African part of the world though

Yeah i know what Female circumcision is. I worked with young people under threat of harm for a long time.It's actually horrible what they do. We'd generally have to help girls as young as 12 who were smuggled back to countries such as Pakistan and forcefully circumcised, often with bits of sharpened Coke can etc horrible horrible thing.

Anybody thats as famous as Bieber, eg Obama, Britney etc, somebody out there, somewhere in the world is going to want you dead. Some come to light for the rest of us to find out about, majority probably dont as they dont follow their feelings up. We live in the kind of world where this is ALWAYS going to be the case, unfortunately.